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On Tuesday, Louis Vuitton hosted a party for the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup, the world’s most historic and prestigious sailing competition, at the amusement park on Tibidabo, a hill offering a sprawling view of Barcelona. Between riding on the ferris wheel and other attractions, the thousand guests nibbled on tuna tartare tacos and popcorn. Meanwhile, members of the Orient Express Racing Team — the French yacht racing team that competes for the cup — took photos with France’s darling aka gold medalist swimmer and Louis Vuitton ambassador Léon Marchand. The evening included a show by Spanish theatre company La Fura dels Baus before guests convened on the dance floor.
“People have been talking about [last night’s party] for months around here. That’s kind of what Louis Vuitton brings. They still talk about the Louis Vuitton ball in Auckland in 2003 [celebrating the sixth Louis Vuitton Cup held in New Zealand that year],” Grant Dalton, CEO of America’s Cup events, says the next day during a press conference at Barcelona’s Hotel Arts. “Louis Vuitton is a luxury brand, but it doesn’t pigeonhole us. It just makes us more popular. It makes the sport more popular.”
The Louis Vuitton Cup, a series for challengers of the America’s Cup, runs from 29 August to 7 October. Then, the winning team will face the defender Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup starting on 12 October.
It’s an enduring relationship: the America’s Cup was born in 1851 on the Isle of Wight in the south of the UK, three years before Louis Vuitton was founded. Louis Vuitton began sponsoring the challengers’ series in 1983, before LVMH was created in 1987. This time, Louis Vuitton is also the title partner of the event.
Puig, Omega, Prada, Tudor, Panerai and L’Oréal are among other luxury companies partnering with the event, in different capacities. Puig, the Barcelona-based beauty and fashion conglomerate, is both the global partner of the event and the official naming partner of the inaugural Puig Women’s America’s Cup, which runs from 5 to 13 October. Omega is the timekeeper and a partner of Emirates Team New Zealand. Prada is the co-title sponsor of Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team. Patrizio Bertelli, Prada Group executive director and chairman of the board of directors, created the Luna Rossa team in 1997; Luna Rossa first participated in the America’s Cup in 2000. Watch brand Panerai is also a partner of Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, while fellow watchmaker Tudor is a partner of Switzerland’s Alinghi Red Bull Racing team. L’Oréal is a partner of the French women’s Orient Express Racing Team. Other high-profile sailing events include the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, sponsored by BMW.
Why does a relatively niche sport draw so much interest from so many brands? Jordan Wise, founder of Gaffer, a media platform focused on athletes and brands, sees several reasons: “One, the America’s Cup is synonymous with high society, wealth and exclusivity. The audience is typically affluent, making it an ideal platform for luxury brands to align themselves with an event that shares their values of prestige and exclusivity. By partnering with the America’s Cup, luxury brands can reinforce their association with an elite lifestyle, which appeals to their target demographic. The event’s history and tradition add to the narrative of timeless quality that many luxury brands promote.”
Several luxury goods executives have a personal interest in sailing. Bertelli was on board (a few times) during the 2000 America’s Cup, but preferred following the regattas from the team’s support boats. During a press conference in June, Puig president Marc Puig recalled Optimist sailing at age seven (the small boats are popular with younger sailors) in the port of Barcelona during the winter months; his father, Mariano Puig, was a sailor who was keen to share his passion with his children. “We have supported sailing regattas for more than 40 years,” the CEO said in a statement.
Wise also stresses the synergy across innovation and sustainability. “The America’s Cup is known for pushing the boundaries of sailing technology. Luxury brands, especially those in the sectors of high-end watches, cars and yachts, often emphasise innovation and craftsmanship. A partnership allows brands to highlight their commitment to cutting-edge technology and excellence. With an increasing focus on sustainability in luxury markets, the technological advancements in eco-friendly yacht design during the America’s Cup also offer brands a platform to showcase their own sustainability initiatives.”
He highlights the benefits for brands like inviting their top clients to the cup’s hospitality venues — VIP lounges and yacht experiences — and developing limited-edition products to launch around the event. Louis Vuitton launched in July the 37th America’s Cup capsule collection for men and women, which includes nautical-themed ready-to-wear, bags and accessories. It also features dressier pieces such as a long column dress and a double-breasted jacket. (The Noé bucket bag from the collection, priced at €2,200, is exclusive to the LV pop-up store at Barcelona’s Marina Port Vell and is already sold out.) Panerai collaborated with Prada on a series of watches titled the Panerai Luna Rossa, which are inspired by the technologies and materials used in the America’s Cup — the Panerai Submersible Luna Rossa Carbotech is priced at €18,400.
Sailing will always be a niche sport, Dalton suggests. “One, there’s a perception that it’s a sport of the rich,” he says. “Second, landlocked countries don’t sail,” he adds, citing Switzerland as an exception (the country is competing at the America’s Cup). “So it will never be a mainstream sport — but what we’re trying to do is popularise it on TV.”
The Barcelona edition is set to hit record audiences thanks to the favourable time zone. The 36th edition in Auckland, New Zealand, had a combined TV audience of 941 million viewers, says Dalton, citing Nielsen data. This time, before the preliminary regatta in Barcelona kicked off, there were already 714 million viewers. “We thought that by coming to Europe we should target 1.5 billion. But having reached 714 million before it even started, would indicate that we’re going to blow that number off,” Dalton says. “We have a philosophy to grow the sport, which is free to air. Firstly, it gets more eyeballs; then, we don’t get geoblocked, because we’re not behind a paywall. There is one exception to that, which is the US, with cable television network ESPN. If you want to grow a sport and particularly a niche sport, you can’t charge.” In addition, the America’s Cup has entered the e-sport arena with the game accumulating 180,000 downloads so far.
Is sailing set to follow the path of Formula One? The motor racing sport gained particular popularity from the Netflix show Drive to Survive, which drew the fashion industry’s attention to the influence of its star drivers. “We have our own version of Drive to Survive,” Dalton says. “[The crew] is not here right now, but they’re everywhere else! They’re embedded on all the teams and it’s brought to you by Louis Vuitton. It’s being done by the director [of documentary films] Free Solo, The Last Dance and Return to Space. That’s being done quietly and they’ve got some good stuff because you forget they’re there. It lifts the lid on the intrigue,” Dalton adds. “America’s Cup teams are pretty secretive about what they do because it’s a technology. We were able to, through the protocol that we write, make it compulsory for teams to participate.”
Filming is in process and the release date of the documentary isn’t set yet.
In the meantime, visitors who are coming to Barcelona for the cup can get their thrills at the America’s Cup Experience museum, via a 15-minute Imax movie and a race simulator.
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